The Strathmore Spartans senior girls' volleyball team took home silver from a tournament at the University of Augustana this past weekend.
The tournament was hosted in Camrose and featured 24 teams from around the area. It was the last season of high school volleyball for many of the veteran players on the team.
"It was our first weekend and we have a whole bunch of underclassmen this year," said Meghan Flaws, one of the players with the club. "Half of our team are in Grade 12, and the rest are all younger kids."
The girls made it to the semifinal where they lost the first set 23-15. Despite this, the Spartans fought back in the second set to win 26-24. This momentum continued into the third set, where the girls won 15-11 and secured a spot in the final.
"It was pretty nice. I played seniors in grades 10 and 11, and we had never made it into a final. So, in my first tournament of Grade 12 being able to get into a final felt really good. It felt like all of the years were paying off," added Flaws.
Flaws said the final was highly competitive, with the Spartans losing against Camrose Catholic High School after two sets. However, two of the athletes with the team ended up being recognized by the Augustana coaches. Ashley Hieburt was awarded the Finals MVP award and Flaws received the award for tournament all-star.
The Spartans will return to playing regular season games, which started last week. Their home opener is on Friday (Sept. 13) against Drumheller. Following that game, the girls will be playing at tournaments every weekend until the middle of October.
